Usher visited Christie's auction in 1833 for the first time, and began collecting watches, ceramics from the Meissen and Sèvres porcelain factories, English silver, enamels, and portrait miniatures.

[2] City librarian A. R. Corns was appointed director of the library, museum and Usher Art Gallery in March 1927.

The gallery is a stone-faced building with brick panels separated by simplified Tuscan pilasters under a frieze decorated with triglyphs and a roof line finished with a balustrade.

This was the core of the museum, which contained objects ranging from the excavated and natural to decorative art and ethnography.

The gallery's 3D scanning project was implemented by artist Oliver Laric, who suggested that 3D models could be downloaded as STL files without copyright limitations.

[10] Examples include the portrait of Joseph Banks by American artist Benjamin West, views of Lincoln by L. S. Lowry, and modern works by John Piper.

[11] The artworks and artefacts are as a result of the generosity of organisations and people over the past decade, and the museum is grateful to all those who have contributed.

The Museum Apprentice Activity offers children aged 5–11 art workshops during long school holidays or a half-term of Saturdays.

[13] In 1946, the gallery founded a programme which invites contemporary artists and curators to showcase their work (including modern British art).

Modern masters whose work was displayed the following year included Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse, and Salvador Dalí.

Academic partners, such as Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln, have also helped to support the gallery's educational programme.

[15] In January 2019, Lincolnshire County Council proposals to use part of the gallery for celebrations (such as weddings) and move some of its collection to a neighbouring museum were criticised as making the art less accessible.